More Than Worthy
by Harric is Life
Summary: The Goblet is magic, and magic is powerful, and time holds its own power, and it all gets confusing if you try to think, so just don't. (This is one of my take on the story "5 Ways Cedric Diggory Doesn't Die" by S. Thanatos, and I take the 5th way into account here. My fic is as vague as the original idea implied for Cedric to survive in the 5th way, so nothing original here.)
Cedric is eagerly anticipating and dreading just a little, the moment the Goblet of Fire will make its decision. He hopes he is worthy enough to be chosen for Hogwarts, and if he is not, well he is really glad that no one saw him put his name in, even if pretty much all the Hufflepuff had just assumed.

He is taken out of his musings by the blue flames of the Goblet turning suddenly red. And as a tongue of flame delivers a charred piece of parchment in Professor Dumbledore's hand, he can't help but let out a gasp with everyone else.

Dumbledore holds the parchment at arm's length to read it in the once again blue-white flames of the Goblet.

"The champion for Durmstrang," he reads, "will be Viktor Krum."

As he joins in the applause and cheers, Cedric couldn't help but feel excited, because now there is going to be a bloody renowned professional Quidditch player in the upcoming tournament. He is eager to see what Krum will do out of his element.

The flames turn red again, and as a second piece of parchment is caught by Dumbledore without effort, Cedric has a wild thought to ask the Headmaster, if he ever played Seeker for his house when he was a student, even considering the parchments are slower than a Snitch. He will surely be checking the school records for it when he gets the chance.

"The champion for Beauxbatons," reads Dumbledore, "is Fleur Delacour!"

As he quietly applauds the graceful girl on whom his mate Scott had been caught drooling over, he wonders if he is by some miracle chosen as a champion, how far will Scott's Puff-loyalty extend, which seems to be completely non-existent in some of the not chosen Beauxbatons girls at the moment.

After Fleur Delacour vanishes into the side chamber behind the staff table, an excited silence reins the Great Hall. Cedric could feel his heart beating frantically, because the next name spoken will be of the Hogwarts champion, and he will support them no matter who they are, even if he will be a bit disappointed if it's not him.

His hand is in Zoe's death grip, and he knows she wants him to be chosen even more than he does, but not for him, for Hufflepuff. She hates how most people disregard their house; she has very strong opinions on the matter in fact. Scott keeps shooting him glances; he too feels the need to prove the worthiness of Hufflepuff, hence the hilariously ill-fated attempt to put his own name in.

Cedric feels it's unfair to the seventh year Puffs, who may have put their own names in, to not be even considered champion material by their own house, and unfair to himself the expectations most of the house have for him. Suddenly he wonders if it was smart of him to put his name in, as the flames of the Goblet turn red for the third time that night.

"The Hogwarts champion," calls the Headmaster, "is Cedric Diggory!"

And despite his sudden trepidation of a moment ago, Cedric feels elation as the entirety of the Hufflepuff table gives him tumultuous applause. He grins thinking how proud his parents will be, as Zoe is nearly sobbing while hugging him and Scott is patting his back all smiles and Will is shouting something he can't make out, and amidst the sea of black and yellow he spies Professor Sprout standing at the staff table and clapping wildly as tears flow down her cheeks, and Cedric had never felt this much love for every single person in his house, or been prouder of being a Hufflepuff than at that very moment.

As he untangles himself from Zoe, and is about to step over the bench, the flames of the Goblet turn red once again and there is a sudden hush in the Great Hall, and Cedric is pretty sure this wasn't supposed to happen. Automatically it seems, Dumbledore catches the fourth parchment that shot out, and he looks at it a moment, and then he looks directly at Cedric as he says, "Cedric Diggory."

Cedric swallows audibly, and inexplicably his eyes are drawn away from Dumbledore's and to Professor Moody's, whose normal eye is on the Goblet, and his magical one is changing its view rapidly from the Goblet to Dumbledore to Cedric and then surprisingly to Harry Potter, who is also looking at him with a slight frown on his face. As he looks back at Dumbledore, he hears a loud grunt from Moody and he looks back at the Goblet, which for the fifth time that night changes color from blue to red and another parchment is shot from the tongue of flame.

"Cedric Diggory," is read again after a moment, and Cedric is pretty sure he put his name in just once.

Cedric doesn't know what to do; Zoe has hold of his hand once again, Will and Scott are looking at him with some wide-eyed confusion, and Cedric can feel the eye of everyone present on him, and he feels nervous. He suddenly recalls the incident with the time-turners when he was little, and maybe that is the reason for his name coming out thrice. After a beat, Dumbledore says –

"Well, Cedric! Up here, if you please!" his eyes twinkle, "I daresay the Goblet of Fire finds you more than worthy to be a champion, it will not do to disappoint it."

As Cedric blushes and makes to move, it is as if the play button has been pressed on a muggle VCR and the volume turned to full, because the applause he gets this time is much louder than the one before. And it is not just the Hufflepuffs that are going wild, but a fair few of Gryffindors and Ravenclaws, their Seekers among them, and a couple of Slytherins as well, including of course Terrence.

With a permanent grin plastered on his face, Cedric lets a tear or two fall at the support as many a hands clap his back on his way to the side chamber. He shakes hands with a beaming Dumbledore and is somehow able to catch the worry etched in the twinkling eyes.

After a little unease he goes through the door, with his name etched in history forever, and on three different charred pieces of parchments, to find eternal glory.

Amidst the still ongoing applause, nobody notices the flames of the Goblet extinguishing, or a magical eye going haywire, or worried eyes looking at a boy with a scar.

Time-turners screw things up for everyone, even without travelling through time.

There was no fourth champion, and Hogwarts had a very worthy one.

Everything had changed.


End file.
